Go up, Rolf the Good, I say to thee, and so women shall be with women.' I thought to myself, 'Jeer on, then;' and I went silently the way that he had pointed out to me.

On the stairs there met me two strange and right fearful beings, whom I had never seen before; and I know not how they got into the castle.

One of them was a great tall man, frightfully pallid and thin; the other was a dwarf-like man, with a most hideous countenance and features.

Indeed, when I collected my thoughts and looked carefully at him, it appeared to me--" Low moanings and convulsive movements of the boy here interrupted the narrative.

Rolf and his chaplain hastened to his bedside, and perceived that his countenance wore an expression of fearful agony, and that he was struggling in vain to open his eyes.